Back 2 Life
by FroFro567
Summary: The Priest, the Lawyer, The School kid, and The C.E.D.A worker, the apocalypse has just begun, can they survive?
1. The Hospital

Back 2 Life

**Part 1: Wood, Man**

Chapter 1: Urban Sprawl- The Hospital

**Omaha, Nebraska**

The world had gone to hell. That much Max knew was true. At a whooping total of 16 years alive, the world had finally gone to hell. She ran out of the house and took a short cut to the driveway, jumping from the two-foot tall retaining wall then sprinting to the car that three other people she called family used. They had packed lightly, an extra set of clothes, her music, and an inhaler. It was almost like a road trip, except for the fact that the world was now infested with zombies.

"The infection has spread rapidly. Everyone remain calm and do not make any contact with infected persons." The Radio said, the voice sounding irritatingly calm for such a situation. A small group of infected had broken though the screen door in the back of their house. It wasn't safe anymore.

'Right, infected…not zombies.' Max thought wryly, buckling up and looking at her brother. He looked just as flustered as she did; his dark skin was shiny with sweat. He glanced her way and smiled nervously.

"Well, we made it." He said, his voice shaking.

"We made it out of the house." Max pointed out, her voice wavering too. He swallowed nervously, and then looked out the front window. They both clutched their seatbelts as the car ran down the road at dangerous speeds. All around outside cars were flying past and people were screaming. From her side of the window, she spotted a few fires in the distance. She sighed and settled into the seat, clutching her bag to her. It was going to be-

"Shit! Hold on kids!" Her dad yelled, swerving violently out of the way of another car.

"Michael!" She yelled, clutching her brother.

"Max!" He yelled back, gripping her shoulders fearfully. Max and her brother stayed huddled together, stretching their seatbelts towards each other. Hot tears streamed out of her eyes, soaking her brother's shirt. Their mother reached back and smoothed down their hair, looking just as afraid as her children.

"It's alright, were almost there." She said, rubbing their backs soothingly. She looked at both of them with worried eyes, before turning to face the road. Max swallowed nervously, sitting back in her seat and clutching her seatbelt tightly. Outside she caught glimpses of people running, and people being overtaken by zomb- infected. She shuddered and turned away from the window, staring blankly at the black leather of the seat. She studied the cracks and creases, passing the time while nervously chewing the inside of her cheek. Her palms were sweating, and wiping them on her pants didn't help any.

The car took two sharp corners then halted suddenly. They were at the medical center turned evacuation station. The family of four jumped out of the car, the two teenagers slinging backpacks over their shoulders. They sprinted to a back entrance up an access ramp. Her dad leaned down and swiped his badge, unlocking the door. They all ran inside, and Max tried her best to keep the screams from sticking in her ears. Nervous panic rose in her chest as she ran through the halls, making their way up to the top of the building. Her mother had just opened the stairwell door when a security officer descended the last step. His bushy eyebrows rose in surprise, but they quickly fell again.

"I'm sorry sir, but you and your family will have to wait in the cafeteria." He instructed, holding out a hand.

"I work here, I should be-" Her dad started, but he was soon interrupted.

"Everyone has been ordered to go down, even me. C.E.D.A's choppers have been delayed. They should be here in about ten minutes." He walked out of the stairwell and closed the door behind him. To Max he looked worn out, tired. She knew that usually made people grumpy. And grumpy people meant no negotiations. She sighed inwardly, but followed close after her brother and parents, walking downstairs to the cafeteria.

"…and may the lord watch over our souls." Niles finished, looking sadly at the thin chain that fell around his thick hands. The metal of the small cross had been warmed by his hands, but he could still feel its comforting form on his palms. He laced his fingers together, and rested his lips on the nails of his thumbs. His fingertips were cold, but his heart was hammering. On his way in it was only thanks to a C.E.D.A worker that he had even managed to get in here. Some sort of creature had come out of nowhere. At first he though it was a demon, though it was a thought purely based on sudden panic. The once human thing had been shot down with an expert shot to the temple, and a young man had hurried him inside. He had offered to get him something warm to drink, but Niles had declined, preferring to sit and pray.

Niles moved his cheek to rest on his fingers, letting the unusually cold appendages to warm up by his hot cheek. He looked around, watching as families and single people slowly filed in the crowded cafeteria. There was a line to get bottled water, and a few of C.E.D.A.'s people were handing out protective masks. Somewhere in the room, a child started to cry. It broke his heart to hear that sound. He moved his head to the other side of his fingers, and then leaned back in his chair to fasten the cross around his neck.

A family of four walked into the throng of people, scanning the crowd for a place to sit. They moved around, scoping out possible seats and finding none. He watched them until the son looked his way. He waved him over, and he nodded back gratefully. The four moved over and managed to sit down on the ground or the chairs that somehow managed to stay open.

"I'm Niles." He said, holding out a hand to the father of the group.

"Mathew." The man replied, shaking his hand.

"Hope." The mother said, shaking his hand as well. Niles nodded with a smile.

"And these are our children. Michael and Max." Hope said, motioning to each.

"Ello." Michael said, holding out a hand to him. He shook it, nodding and smiling. The daughter, Max shook his hand as well, but that was all he got out of her. She looked nervous, and clung to her bag in her lap. Michael gave his sister a sympathetic look then explained  
"She's shy around new people. She likes you just fine." His sister shot him a look with a quirky smirk and a bright smile. She bobbed her head in agreement, seeming to relax a bit.

"Great to know. Do any of you know why we aren't upstairs yet?" He asked, resting his elbows on his knees and looking at Mathew and Hope.

"Well, apparently C.E.D.A's had some trouble with their choppers. I haven't the faintest clue as to what it could be though." Hope said with disapproval clear in her voice.

"Their pilots probably got turned." Mathew said to his sister. She rolled her eyes, and shook her head.

"Or they had engine trouble." She said, giving her older brother a 'really now?' look. Niles smiled inside; he remembered how he and his siblings had acted when they were younger. The good old days really, mischief almost everyday of the week and black eyes about once a month. Niles shook his head, then settled in to chat away the minutes.

Tim tuned out the noise of the bar easily; he always did whenever he started thinking. The trial had ended only a few minutes ago, and now he sat with a stocky glass between his hands. Now he had to write a paper on the trial, summarizing how he thought the trial went, the various points of interest in said trial, and why he thought the jury and judge could have or should have ruled. Already the paper next to his drink had a full outline that already needed revising. The man being tried had supposedly recovered from the Green Flu, and was charged on the account of Murder, he pleaded insanity, claiming the entire event was all a blur to him. Tim claimed it a bullshit.

"Hey buddy, you sure you should be drinking and writing at the same time?" Someone asked, leaning over to glance at his paper.

"I just want something to hold." Tim replied coolly, not looking at the guy next to him. He moved his paper closer and looked over the various points. He pulled out his pen and put a line though it, deducing that it was irrelevant. He started rewriting the bullet point when a small group of men in yellow walked in. Around the bar the words 'C.E.D.A' were whispered, and the T.V. was turned off, cutting the newscaster from Savannah Georgia off mid sentence. The men in yellow glanced at each other through their haz-mat suits, then the leader stepped foreword.

"We are here to guide all of you to safety at the hospital. Choppers will be evacuating people there soon."

Everyone looked around at each other for a brief moment, the silence unbroken by anything. Then Tim stood up, and started to pack his bag. He placed money on the counter for his drink, and then walked out the door. The sounds of scraping chairs were soon to follow in his wake. People, all they ever need is a leader. He hopped into the back of one of C.E.D.A's vans, ignoring the people rushing to the hospital on the road. More people filed in after him, soon packing the crammed space. He settled back and stared at a corner. The corner wasn't proving to be much of interest, so he closed his eyes and rested, making sure to keep his hair off the side of the van. It was uncomfortable to have the gel spiked hair poke into his skull. He picked a stray thread off of the crease of his suit. It was a ridiculous color, bright orange with grey compliments, but he liked it. Most people were thrown off. He had the hair of a punk, the style of a partier, and the attitude of a barracuda. He swayed slightly as the van started to move down the road at what felt like an alarming speed. He braced himself, and then looked toward the doors of the van. He was met by about a dozen pairs of eyes staring back. He shook his head then closed his eyes and turned away. The ride to the hospital was mostly uneventful. In the near windowless C.E.D.A. van, the only thing they could really see was through the back door. And no one wanted to look. The van eventually slowed down and stopped. The vans doors swung open and everyone inside was ushered out.

"Move it into the hospital people!" Without a second thought, Tim sprinted out of the van, it was survival of the fittest in the zombie apocalypse.

James stood on the roof, watching from his viewpoint as field agents tried their best to keep the infected away from the building while trying to help surviving individuals into safety. He gripped the rough surface of his Magnum's handle tighter. He felt a stab of guilt in his heart, if only they had told people sooner, set up evacuations sooner. If they had done that then they wouldn't be fighting for their own lives and the lives of innocents. He checked the three bile bombs strapped on his left side with his free hand, feeling the now familiar caps for reassurance.

"Joe, how's the chopper situation?" He called, turning away from the edge to talk to the communicator. The burly man held up a finger, listening to his radio.

"Uh huh, the schools? Ok, what about- good?…no. Shit." He sighed, and leaned back in his chair, searching the skies. "Very well, keep me updated and get who you can out to Arkansas." He lowered the headphones so they rested around his neck, and then turned to look at his fidgety co-worker.

"Relax James; they'll be here within five minutes." He turned to look at some readings, "Quit being such a bleeding heart."

He ground his teeth in frustration; he was no 'bleeding heart.' Ever since the Hurricane Katrina incident that had been his nickname. Last year he had even gotten a morbid valentine card. The Vampire-themed card pictured a vampire with its bloody hand holding out a literal bleeding heart, 'From your lover, Katrina.' It had said. James had taken the liberty to shred it immediately. He sighed in frustration then set the safety on his pistol before placing it in his holster.

"I'm just worried Joe. A man was almost killed on our front steps on his way in less than an hour ago." He explained, chewing on his lip before moving to the edge again. It was almost noon; they should have shipped out at least half of the people downstairs by now. All around he heard screams and gunshots, and he kept an eye out for any of the advanced infected prepared to alert the nearest sniper of its position. There were a total of six they had recorded, from most known down they were: The Boomer, the Hunter, the Smoker, the Spitter, the Tank, and the Witch. Unfortunately, the only one they really knew was the Boomer. It was the only infected they had been able to keep contained. Thanks to the bloated infected, they had managed to develop bombs that worked on infected individuals. Everyone had been given a few samples, while the remaining bombs had been shipped off to designated 'Safe-Rooms' around the country.

James blew air through his lips; at least they were able to get construction workers in to set up set locations with reinforced doors. They were varied locations, but each was stocked with medical kits, pain killers, cots or beds, and rations. It was the least they could do on a short notice. He shook his head, and then started to walk around the parameter of the landing pad. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a rather large group of survivors running though the parking lot. He watched them nervously, still walking around the building when suddenly a chunk of concrete slammed down right next to him. He jumped, and shot a look over the edge. He hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was, unfortunately though; it was indeed the Tank he saw in the west parking lot. Its brutal roars were just faintly audible from this high up, but he still knew the danger.

"Tank! West parking lot!" One of the snipers called, less than ten feet from James.

"Small group of common infected entering from the south." Another called, alerting the ground crew with the walky-talky next to him.

"We got a Hunter climbing up the walls." A third called, and James felt a tremor of panic. He pushed it down and took a deep breath.

"I'm going downstairs. We need to get some people up here." James said, sprinting across the landing pad and down the stairs.

"James! The choppers will be here soon! Hurry it up…." He didn't quite catch the last of what Joe said, but he yelled back a hurried 'ok' before the door shut.

Everyone's heads turned when the door opened. Max craned her neck to catch a glimpse of a young man in the doorway. His bright yellow uniform clearly stated who he worked for, and everyone waited to hear what he said. He looked intimidated by the sheer amount of people, but the look soon passed. He straightened his back and squared his shoulders, then spoke, his voice calm.

"The choppers will be here soon, we should be able to take about twenty or thirty people if we manage the space correctly." He held up his hands as people started crowding around him, their voices angry, scared, or both. Max looked at her family and Niles, neither of them showed signs of moving from their spot. They were the furthest from the door. Her father sighed.

"At least someone's keeping us informed." He said, resting his head in his hands.

"Well, why aren't we trying to get out?" Michael asked, standing up angrily. He started moving towards the door, when suddenly the crowd split like startled sheep. Even the young man was startled when the doorway was flooded with zombies. Screams filled the area as people tried to get away, and others failed to. People started to rush out of the door, and Max found herself cut off from her family. She struggled to stand, but she was repeatedly knocked down by the swarm of people trying to escape. She curled up in a ball, wrapping her arms around the back of her neck as the crowd started to thin out. She felt a hand grab her just above the elbow, and instantly she was thankful that someone was helping her up admits all the screaming and chaos. That was until nails started biting into her skin.

"Ow, hey watch…" She stopped midsentence screaming, the twisted face of an infected man hovering over her. His nails scratched her as she pulled away. Two more zombies crowded around her, pulling at her arms and hair. She struggled to get away, yelling gibberish all the while. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest, as she struggled to get away.  
"HELP!" She yelled, tears welling up in her eyes as the infected beat at her with their fists. She did her best to protect her face, but her arm took the beating. An infected set of teeth bit into her arm. The sudden 'bang!' of gunfire startled her, but the infected slumped to the ground, dead. Max started to fall down too, but a pair of large hands kept her from falling.

"Come on Max, keep on your feet!" Max forced her legs under her, swallowing repeatedly. She hugged her left arm close to her, while trying to keep from shaking herself to pieces. She leaned gratefully against Niles, her eyes wide. Her heart was fluttering in her chest, and her arm felt like it was on fire. She looked up as a flash of yellow came near her. She opened her mouth to talk, but she was interrupted by him.

"Take a deep breath and let it out." He instructed, waving a finger around his face. She followed his instructions while her eyes followed his fingers. The moment she exhaled, he grabbed her wrist and poured a clear liquid over it. She sucked in a breath as the cool liquid burned her arm, the pain making her knees buckle under her. Niles tried to keep her up, but in the end he followed her to the ground, kneeling in a pool of blood.

"I'm really sorry about that." The young man said, pulling out a wrap of gauze from his pocket. "I just had to make sure that either it or you don't get infected." He wrapped the gauze around her bite carefully. Then poured a small amount of alcohol on the scratch on her other arm. Max felt the world around her spin as the pain flared up but she kept herself from fainting. Pristinely white gauze was wrapped around her upper arm, the flowing blood soon staining the material.

"Alright, how are you feeling? Cold, feverish?" The C.E.D.A worker pulled out a small flashlight from a red kit strapped on his side. He flashed her eyes, checking for any sign of the pupils and iris' misting over. Max shook her head, she just felt dizzy and sick.

"My parents…" She mumbled, looking around. She hadn't realized how many infected could swarm in. Bodies littered the ground, along with emptied clips and stray bits of jewelry. Niles blocked her vision with a dark hand; she looked up to see him shaking his head.

"You don't want to see." He said, averting his eyes from where the bodies lay. Max shuddered, and looked at the worker. His face was stressed as he replaced the flashlight.

"What happened?" She asked, climbing shakily to her feet. Niles helped her gently, while also blocking her view with his body. He shook his head, lowering a pair of silver eyes.

"I don't know. I was just going to check when I noticed you were still standing. I'm lucky your friend here knew how to shoot a gun." He gave Niles an appreciative look, which he returned with a frown.

"God didn't give me fingers to shoot." He sighed, "But your welcome." The worker nodded, and then started off towards the door he had come out of.

"I'm going to check the roof." He said, trotting up the stairs.

"I'll come too." Max said, tripping slightly as she ran after him.

"Wait, don't get ahead of yourself." Niles said, steadying her with a hand on her shoulder. Max looked back at him, her eyes fearful.

"I don't want to stay here." She whispered, keeping her eyes on his face. Niles blinked, understanding.

"Alright, I'm coming too." They ran after the C.E.D.A worker, who was waiting on the steps.

"I'm Max." She said, forcing herself not to think about what had just happened.

"I'm James." He said, and then stepped onto the landing pad.

And watched as the choppers left without them.


	2. Meeting Tim

**Part 1: Wood, Man**

Chapter 2: Urban Sprawl- Meeting Tim

James was stunned; he didn't even realize his mouth was open until a cold finger gently pushed on his chin, closing his mouth. He glanced at Max, and then looked back at the sky, watching the back of the helicopters fly into the distance. Off to safety. Without them. At first all he could do was stare, and then the fluttering of paper caught his eye. He turned to look and picked up the single piece of paper.

"Sorry man." Only two words on the page. He crumpled it up. There were no words to express the feeling of being left behind by people you considered friends, or the anger that came with it.

"Well, what now James?" Niles asked, crossing his arms. James turned his head, thinking.

"James…" Max asked, her voice small, "What is that?" She asked, pointing to a chunk of concrete sticking out of the landing pad. He looked at it, and then sighed.

"It's exactly what it looks like."

"What the freak could do that?" She asked, shocked.

"It's called a Tank, an infected person with an extremely dangerous stain of the Green Flu." He explained. He ran a hand from his forehead to the crest of his head, sighing. He shook his head, and then turned back to the door.

"They aren't coming back, but there might be some hope. Are either of you familiar with this city?"

"I live here. What are you looking for?" Max offered, walking back to stand near Niles, still shaking unsteadily.

"What's the tallest building here?" He asked, spotting the grey outline of a skyscraper in the distance. Max seemed relieved, and a small smile returned to her face.

"The Woodman building. It's right by my school." She said, but then she bit her bottom lip. "It's all the way downtown though. It takes twenty minutes by car…"

"And it'll take even longer on foot." Niles finished. James sighed in response, but nodded.

"It's worth a shot, though it'll be dangerous." He warned.

"Not if we have guns." Niles pointed out, pointing towards a pile of guns and Ammo on the table Joe had been sitting on less than three minutes ago. James nodded in agreement. His pistol, no matter how strong, had limited rounds compared to larger guns.

"Max, how good are you at using guns?" Both men looked at her, and she seemed to shrink.

"Not very good, I've only shot one once or twice at a shooting range." She scratched the back of her head with her better arm, "If the streets are anything like downstairs though, I'm sure I'll hit something."

"That should be fine, let's get going." James said, walking to the table to pick up a submachine gun. Niles frowned silently, but picked up a chrome shotgun. Max took the second submachine gun and turned it around in her hands, trying to pick the weapon apart with her eyes.

"Hold it in your right hand." James corrected, loading his gun with ammo.

"I'm left handed."

James looked at her, then to the bandage wrapped around her arm. He chewed the inside of his cheek, and then nodded.

"Your aim will be off anyway, just move it to your other arm. That bite will need to heal and the gun won't help if it's recoiling on a bite." He unzipped his jacket and placed the extra ammo in an inner pocket. He slung the gun over his shoulder, and then put a pair of magazines in another pocket. He zipped up his jacket then settled the gun in his arm. Niles reloaded the pistol in his hand, a pair of magazines sticking out of his pants pocket.

"Alright people, lets get to the Woodman building." Niles said, taking the safety off of his gun. Max nodded, trying to look just as prepared as the others, but feeling entirely lost. James inspected the gun in her hands.

"Take off the safety, here," He pointed to the catch on the side of the gun, "And grab some ammo." Max grabbed the pile he pointed to, and took off the safety. Niles looked as if he wanted to say something to her, but he decided not to.

They descended the stairs quickly, Niles in the lead with James in the back. They ran through the cafeteria, holding their breath at the rising stench of death. As they ran though the door, Max glanced back to where she thought her family would be. She wished she hadn't. She couldn't see her parents, but she did see her brother. If she hadn't known him, she wouldn't have been able to even tell it was human. He had been reduced to a mess of blood and gore. She felt like stopping right there, the pain in her heart was that crippling. She clenched her teeth tight together as tears welled in her eyes and continued out the door. The first zombie she saw, she took aim and pulled the trigger. It dropped like a fly the before the gun's bang was even over. The noise was sudden and startling, but the recoil made her eyes water as her arms protested. She was glad James had made her switch arms, if her other arm had been against the gun she was sure she would've dropped the gun. She felt kind of hyped up, until a group of five more came rushing out of a room. The three spread out to avoid hitting each other with their guns. Her ears were ringing, but she ignored it. Turning around, she peaked into the room behind her, her gun at the ready. Three infected started after her, but she fired, hitting two of them, but clipping the other one in the shoulder. Max backed up as it ran at her, and what sounded like bees buzzed past her, hitting the three and dropping them.

"Don't think one shot is all it takes." Niles warned, shooting zombies on his way down the steps. The main floor was about three stories down from where they were. Max counted off one as she ran after him, feeling the adrenaline rush as another wave ran towards them, screaming gibberish with anger in their eyes.

Tim cursed to the high heavens the moment he sprinted in through the front door. A swarm of infected were occupying the waiting room, apparently they didn't like him intruding very much. They rushed at him in full sprint. Tim had one thing on him that could be considered a weapon. He slipped the messenger bag over his head, then swung the heavy bag at the head of the first infected that came into distance. He had three text books in them, and he was very happy to know that it was enough to crush the skull of the infected. Gunfire sounded behind him as the three C.E.D.A workers backed him up, most everyone else was either too stunned or too drunk to react, and soon paid the price. Out of the corner of his eye, Tim saw two people taken down by just a handful of infected. And inhuman scream pierced the echoing lobby, and he looked up just in time to see a hooded figure falling from the second story onto him, claws outstretched. He moved back, dropping his heavy bag to avoid the falling infected. It landed on all fours, then turned and growled at him, crouching down threateningly. Tim glared at the thing and scoffed.

"Grr yourself." He snarled, before reaching down and pulling his bag out from under it. It fell over, growling incessantly as it rolled over quickly.

"Down bitch." He said darkly, pinning it down with his foot. It swiped at his pants with clawed hands, tearing at the bright fabric but not touching the flesh underneath.

"Bye, bye." He said while quirking an eyebrow. He swung his bag behind him and down onto its head until the thing stopped moving.

Straightening up, Tim noted how the room had grown silent. He turned around to find both infected and human corpses around, sporting bullet wounds and claw marks respectively. The infected had run outside after the people who had the sense to run.

"Wonderful, I'm alone." He sighed, slinging his bag over a shoulder. He walked over to the fallen C.E.D.A. employees. Searching their pockets, he found a pistol and some kind of container with green liquid. He held the bottle to the light, and then read its label.

"Bile bomb, what…this is a bottle of freaking puke?" He scoffed, "that's utterly disgusting." He put the bottle back and looked around the room.

Briefly he wondered what he should do next when the clatter of shoes sounded on the floor above him. He looked up at the banister lazily, holding up the pistol at the doorway. The tan face of a girl looked over the glass banister. She recoiled in surprise at a pistol being aimed at her, and slung the gun she was holding around her shoulder to put her hands up, palm first.

"Were not infected." She called, watching him nervously. Two more people came up behind her, holding their guns at the ready and aimed at him. Tim's sapphire eyes rested on the man in yellow, instantly picking him out as part of C.E.D.A. His gaze hardened, if C.E.D.A. was downstairs, then the evacuation must have gone to shit. He shook his head in disgust and lowered his pistol.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked, and Niles saw Max wince out of the corner of his eye. He wasn't sure if it was because of her wounds, or the sharpness of the mans voice. The three of them descended the stairs rapidly, each glancing over their shoulder every other step or so. James shook his head as he stepped onto the tile of the first floor.

"The men upstairs left us. They must have gone the moment the choppers landed." He explained, taking the downtime to reload his gun.

"So why aren't you with them?" The man in the orange suit asked, stepping away from James. The C.E.D.A worker seemed taken aback by the question, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

"He came downstairs to get some people ready for evacuation." Max explained, taking the submachine gun off her back. She looked around, and then caught sight of his bloodied backpack.

"Did you kill these zombies with a school bag?" She asked, stunned. He looked at the corpses on the ground, then back at her.

"It seems that way." Max smiled in amazement, but the smile left when she spotted a hooded figure on the ground, blood pooling around his skull. James and Niles followed her gaze, curious as to what had caught her attention.

"James, is that something we should be worried about?" Niles asked, reaching up to clasp his cross. The look on the younger mans face was anything but reassuring.

"Yes. A class 4 infected, most commonly called the Hunter." He said, worried. "It's been recorded to kill someone in nine seconds."

"Well, it wasn't all that smart." Tim scoffed, but Niles could see that James disagreed.

"Oh no, It is by far the smartest infected we've recorded." He informed, walking over to inspect the body.

"Well, what exactly does a Hunter do?" Max asked, looking around the wide lobby.

"It jumps on its victim and uses its claws and teeth to tear at their face, chest, and abdomen area." He pulled back its lip, revealing frighteningly sharp teeth. "You have about three seconds after it screams to find it before it's on you." He stood up and shook his head. "You're lucky you managed to get out of the way when you did." James observed the carnage, and a heavy silence fell around them. Niles couldn't help but notice how the man in the orange suit kept his eyes on James. He didn't trust that look one bit.

"So, uh…what's your name? I'm Max, this is Niles, and that's James." She said, attempting to break the silence. He whipped his head towards her, making her jump. He stared at her, giving her a glance up and down.

"You've been hurt." He stated, she bit her bottom lip and shrugged.

"Yeah, and your crazy suit is torn." She countered, and Niles had to agree, that was one crazy suit. The man smirked, and some tension left his shoulders.

"Hunger-thing clawed it." He explained, "My name is Tim." He shot a glare at James, who glared back, then rolled his shoulders. "So where are you all headed if there's no evacuation happening?"

"Were headed downtown, to the Woodman building. Are you familiar with it?" Niles asked, spotting James pick up a green bottle from the floor.

"No." Time said, his face contorting with disgust as he followed Niles' gaze. "C.E.D.A., why the hell are you picking up puke?"

"My name is James, and it's a Bile bomb." He explained, standing up. "We can use these on the infected if they start to swarm."

"How is puke going to help?" Niles asked, not believing him.

"It's modified from a class 1 infected, the Boomer. It was the only thing we could safely keep contained while we were studying them." James explained, he gave the jar a little shake, "If a Boomer pukes on you, it will cause any infected within half a mile to swarm around you. This does the exact same thing…"

"What, 'cause the infected to swarm around you'?" Tim interrupted, mimicking the text-book tone James was using. James bristled, but continued with his explanation.

"No, if I were to throw it on you and your insanely spiky hair, it would do nothing but make you utterly disgusted. If I throw it on anyone who is infected, then it would cause the infected to swarm around the bile covered person." He picked up the two bottles from his fallen coworkers and checked the glass.

"Not very many were able to be made, and those that were are spread around the country." He walked over towards Niles and Max, handing them each one. "We should use these sparingly."

"I don't want one." Tim said, checking his pistol lazily

"I didn't offer you one." James countered while his two teammates placed the bile bottles in their pockets. He looked up from his gun to glare at the C.E.D.A worker, who was shooting the same look back.

"Are you mouthing off to me?" Tim asked, cocking his gun ominously. James opened his mouth to comment, but Niles stepped between the two of them.

"All right you two; the world is far from safe. We have better things to do than bicker with each other." The two of them glared at him, but he continued. "Max is behaving better than you two." Max giggled at this, and both men backed off when they realized the truth.

"Tim, were headed to safety. You can choose to come with us, or go. Either way, good luck." Without another word Niles walked out, promptly shooting an infected from the hall way. Max tugged lightly on Tim's orange sleeve.

"Come on." She urged, smiling up at him. "We'll be safer in a group of four, than a group of three." She motioned for both of the young men to follow her, then


	3. Together at Target

Back 2 Life

**Part 1: Wood, Man**

Chapter 3: Urban Sprawl- Together at Target

'Dear baby Jesus!' Niles thought, his teeth clenched together in frustration as he shot after infected after infected. On the news and the radio he had heard that the Green flu was highly contagious, but this was ridiculous!

"James! Is every godforsaken person on this planet infected!" He yelled at the young man running beside him.

"Pretty much!" He yelled over gunfire, closing his eyes for a brief second as he blasted the head of a young woman. It was chaos, and never in his life had Niles had so much trouble crossing the street.

"Hey, James! I heard something!" Max warned, only a few feet behind him with Tim close by her side.

"We're hearing a lot of things kid." The spiky-haired man yelled sarcastically, "Be more descriptive!" He shoved his elbow into the chest of an infected man, before shooting it in the throat with a shotgun he had found in one of the C.E.D.A van's they had passed. They were between the parking lots on the main street. Set on its schedule, the stoplight above turned green. Not like there were any cars to drive past.

"It sounded like…I don't know!" Max shot into the crowd frantically, struggling to explain and shoot at the same time.

"Gurgling, coughing, screaming? Crying even, what?" James prompted, skirting around a dented car while Tim clamored over the hood. Niles was a little ahead, ducking to pick something up from the ground.

"Yo, James. Found a crowbar!" Niles said, twirling the heavy bar in his hands before swinging the hooked end into the face of another infected.

"Whoo!" Max cheered, jumping a little in excitement as she witnessed the infected drop. "It sounded like someone screaming with a sore throat." She said, though she mentally corrected herself. Anyone with a sore throat wouldn't be screaming or outside at all.

"Screaming with a sore throat?" Tim asked, a wicked grin plastered on his face. "Who the hell would…Ah!" He had just been about to punch a zombie in the face when suddenly his entire torso was constricted, his arms pinned against his body.

"Smoker!" James warned, shooting at the tongue before searching out the supposed infected in the crowd. Niles shot a tall infected, which released a cloud of smoke.

"Got it, I think." Niles called, glancing at James who nodded briskly.

Max reached down and pulled Tim up by his arm, wincing as hands clawed and beat at her back. These people were sick, but they sure didn't act like it.

"Thanks." Tim said, dusting himself off briefly before resuming his punch. The infected stumbled back, its nose spurting blood. Before it could even recover, the orange and grey suited man shot it under the chin.

"No prob, and nice." Max said, hopping over the curb and onto the grass. She could see the store just a short distance away, and the infected ranks were thinning a bit as they descended down a hill, grass wishing around their feet. She felt her heart rate slow down somewhat, they had left most of the infected on the street. Beside her, Tim took a running leap off the last part of the hill, his dress shoes hitting the pavement with a dull 'thud'. Max smiled and ran after him, though her landing was much more silent.

The four survivors grouped together, each looking out for danger in a certain direction. Next to Niles, Max gave a wet cough, and then cleared out her throat. James, Niles, and Tim all stopped to look at her, looking concerned, worried, and suspicious respectively. The young girl stopped, and turned to look at the three of them.

"What?" She asked, though she had a feeling about what they were looking at her for.

"You coughed." Tim stated, raising his shotgun slightly. Max sighed, her shoulders falling.

"Yeah, I…have asthma." She confessed, coughing again into a fist. James groaned.

"How bad?"

"More importantly, do you have your inhaler?" Niles asked, shooting a glare at Tim, who spun on a pricey heel to shoot a zombie with his gun in a huff.

"It's manageable, and yeah." She shifted the gun in her hands, "I'm not going to suddenly start to have an attack." She started to cross her hands, but then switched the way her arms laid, left on top. She pouted at them, and then moved her hands into their zombie shooting position. "Can we go now?"

"For once I have to agree." Tim said, looking around the parking lot. "Let's get into the store, grab some food, then go."

"And extra clothes." Niles added, looking down at the brownish stains on his pants, Max agreed, pulling at her blood soaked pants from when she had sat down. James nodded, glancing at the sky to check the sun. After sundown, their chances of being rescued were even less than in the daylight.

"Let's get to Target." He sighed, cocking his gun. The other three followed close after, hurrying across the parking lot.

Max was the first to reach the sliding doors, and she made quick work of the three infected that ran straight at her from just inside the store. The other three survivors came up behind her, and a strange kind of silence slid over them as the doors closed behind them.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Niles asked, looking at the three younger members of his team. They all looked back at him, then to each other.

"Well, you and I both need new pants…" Max started, tugging uncomfortably again at her pants.

"And we need supplies." James finished, glancing at Tim.

"James and I will pick up food and any medical supplies that may be needed. You too get your clothes, and get us some too as a second thought." Tim said, he gave his clothing sizes and preferences to Max, and James did the same to Niles.

"Meet us back here when you're done." The large man said, holding his cross and praying to the Lord that they would be able to get to safety. Without another word, they split up.

Max wasn't a regular at Target, but she was sure glad Niles was. He pointed out the sizes she asked for as he found a pair of pants that he could wear.

"It's kinda creepy how quiet it is in here." She said, searching through the kapris in her section. Niles was a little ways away, but they could still talk without having to raise their voices much.

"Yeah…" Niles replied, the sound of scraping metal clueing her into the fact that he wasn't having much luck finding pants he liked.

"Any allergies!" A voice yelled from clear across the store, it sounded like James.

"None over here, Max?" Niles asked, keeping his voice lowered.

"Nope. No allergies!" She yelled, spying a pair of green pants she recognized. She had a pair just like it in her backpack, and these were exactly the kind she loved.

"Bingo." She said, pulling out her size. None of the four pockets could be snapped shut, but it allowed for more room to carry stuff.

"You found your pair?" Niles asked, appearing from the aisle with two pairs of cream slacks, an extra belt was slung over his shoulder.

"Yep, why do you have two?" She asked, taking off the hanger and snapping the tags.

"Just in case. You should grab another pair, and then we can get the others a set."

"I already have my own pair in my bag." She explained, looking at the alarm thing pinned on the leg.

"What do we do about these though?" The only way Max knew how to get them off was to either use a device or to cut away the fabric.

"We can check the cash register for the thing to get it off." Niles said, leading her back into the aisle to find the others some clothes.

The moment Tim was away from the others he turned on James.

"Listen to me C.E.D.A, I don't trust you, and I don't expect I ever will. I'll tolerate you for as long as you keep yourself useful. Don't think I'm your friend, and don't think I'm your underling." James nodded, his hands held up defensively.

"I got it, no need to be hostile." He said, glancing towards the clothing section where Niles and Max had gone to.

"Good, now let's grab some food and get out of here." He said, spinning on a well polished heel and striding past party cards towards the food. Most of the 'get well soon' cards were gone.

James shook his head and let out a breath, he did not like that man. He followed quickly after him, running thorough a list of non perishable foods that could keep them going for a while: Trail mix, Granola, Dried fruit, Jerky, and energy bars along with bottled water. It would be a lot to carry, but he spied the school section just to the right. He jogged over to the section, and quickly spied a bag they could use. Tim had his bag full of books that he refused to dump out, Max had a smaller bag with extra clothes, and the med pack on his back could only carry one or two energy bars. Tim just kept on walking past, ignoring the younger man. He pulled a fair sized back pack from the shelf and dumped out the paper contents before backtracking to the heath and beauty section. He grabbed two plastic first aid kits, an extra bottle of peroxide and cleaning alcohol, some non stick gauze, cotton balls, and medical tape. He packed them expertly, the bottles in one of the smaller front pockets, the gauze, cotton, and tape in the smallest, and the first aid at the bottom of the main compartment. He slung the bag over one shoulder, and then ran to where he saw Tim searching through some bags with food. He glanced at the bag of trail mix, and then looked at the wall of the silver bags. There was a variety of things, but every one of them had nuts of some kind. James took a deep breath, and then yelled to the other two from across the store.

"Any allergies!" Tim winced and glared at him, then set the food back. He paid no attention though, listening. He heard the deep tone of Niles' voice, and Max's higher pitched voice.

"Nope! No allergies!" She yelled back, and James smiled with relief.

"Alright, grab all the bags; just a couple of each kind." He said, picking up a pair of the closest batch and setting the bag on the shelf. His partner made a sound, but made no other remark and started packing the bag. The two made quick work of the rack, and soon moved on to grab several bags of beef jerky of any kind, various brands of energy bars, and bags of dried fruit.

"Gum." Tim said, grabbing a pack of spearmint.

"We don't need it." James pointed out, awkwardly packing the eight bottles of water in the full bag.

"Gum is good for you. I've done research on it. And it's more convenient than bringing toothbrushes." He packed the gum in his bag, and then stared at James, mulling over something..

"What?" He asked, zipping up the now heavy bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"What kind do you like?"

"Uh, just grab sweet mint…" Tim nodded and grabbed another bag of gum, then walked into the aisle.

"Now what?" He asked, slipping a thumb into his pants-line.

"We go to the front and wait." James said, taking a short cut behind the kitchen supplies, Tim's shoes softly following after. They stopped, then got slightly dimmer.

"C.E.D.A. Come here." Tim called; he had gone down a side aisle. James walked back, nervous.

"Yeah?" He peaked around the corner to see Tim holding a rather large frying pan.

"How well would a frying pan work on an infected?"

"Well if you let them get that close, then well enough I guess." He watched nervously as the taller man twirled the cooking utensil in his hand, and then he smirked.

"I think I'll keep this on me for a while." He said, grabbing a lighter, non-stick pan and tucking it in his bloody bag. He observed the younger man for a moment, and then smiled. That creeper James out more than when he frowned.

"You know, you should get something to hit those things with. Whenever they swarm they always get too close to shoot effectively." He walked past him and walked farther into the store, James following reluctantly behind. He found Tim in the sporting section, weighing a baseball bat in his hands. The aluminum shone in his hands, and he tossed the long object at James, who caught it clumsily.

"That should do, Americas favorite past time finally put to some interesting use." The smile left his face, and he was once again the less scary man James was becoming familiar with. "Now lets go." He walked past him without so much as a second glance.

Max and Niles were waiting by the cashier, Max biting into a Snickers bar on the conveyor belt when the two met up with the group again.

"Hungry?" She asked, swallowing her latest mouthful. "Grab a Snickers." She held out the half eaten bar to the side and winked with a broad smile on her face. Niles laughed, crumbling a Twix wrapper.

"Come on fellas, we got our clothes, I see you got the food. Let's relax a bit before heading out." He nodded at the large food bag and grabbed it, slinging it over his wide shoulders, receiving a glad smile from James. Tim pulled out a bag of Skittles and tore a corner. He poured the rainbow colored candies and arranged them in rainbow color order, and then popped the seven candies into his mouth.

"What?" He mumbled, tucking the partially chewed rainbow into one cheek when he saw Max staring at him.

"Nothin'." She shrugged, "You just didn't seem like a Skittles type, I figured you liked York." She looked at the silver and blue package, crumbling the now unused Snickers wrapper then picking up the dark chocolate and mint candy. "Speaking of which…mmm!" She held her hands up to her face and rocked from side to side in glee. James smiled, and then pocketed a Three Musketeers bar.

"Too bad we can't take some of this with us…" She muttered, looking at the partially raided candy shelf.

"There will be more stores along the way, besides; we have more than enough food for a while." James said, taking his Submachine gun off his back.

"Ooh, is that a bat?" Max asked, peering at the aluminum object leaning on the C.E.D.A workers leg.

"Yeah, it's a bat." He picked it up and handed it to the young girl, "You want it?"

"Dude, totally! I've always wanted to hit someone with a bat." She grinned, spinning it in her hand before hopping off the counter. "So where to now?"

"There's a safe house we have to go through, there should be ammo and extra weapons there, then its downtown we go." James said, cocking his gun.

"Alright people, lets get going." Niles said, cocking his gun as well and then headed towards the door with three other people in tow.

When they walked outside, there were very few zombies out, the first one that came within reach of Max's bat had its knees bashed and the back of its head smacked.

"Whoo! That felt kinda good." She said, stowing the bat behind her backpack to use her gun.

"Yeah, but take it easy on using your arms." James warned, yelling over the gun fire as they moved back into the main street.

"Let the girl do what she wants C.E.D.A." Tim hissed, blasting an infected's head with his shotgun. "I hear that hoodie thing." He warned, looking around to find the source of an inhuman cry.

"Hunter!" James warned, "Max, it's to your left, between you and Tim at about Ten o' clock."

Max whipped her head around, gun at the ready. She spotted it in the mild crowd, and aimed. She shot, but hit an infected man just to the right of it. She hissed angrily and aimed again, kicking an infected teen away. This time she heard it yelp and it jumped up away, blood darkening its arm. A shot from Niles finished it off.

"Nice shot." Tim said sarcastically to Max, quickly reloading his gun and firing into the crowd as they ran down the street. She glared at him, and shot a zombie pointedly in the head.

"Safe house in sight!" Niles yelled, and Max glanced over in his direction to holler an ok, but then she stopped.

"J-J-J-James, what the hell is that thing!" Her arms started to shake and her already accelerated heart rate doubled.

"What's got you sc- oh my god!" Tim paused only briefly in his shooting to stare at the massive beast of a man just down the road.

"Dear Jesus lord!" Niles gasped, stopping as the rest of the infected were killed.

"Tank…" James whispered a hand over his heart.

"Ok C.E.D.A, what do we do?" Tim whispered, staring at the oblivious infected. James shot him a glare, but kept his remarks to himself.

"Any other time I'd say run, but right now it looks like were going to have to kill it." He whispered.

"Kill it!" Max gasped, "James, that thing is like….the Chuck Norris of Zombies!"

"Oh god…" Tim sighed

"Will you all please choose some other word; don't take the Lords name in vain." Niles sighed, "Where do we shoot it?"

"The head or the back of the neck. Try to fan out and hit it from all four sides. It will take a while, but we should be able to manage it. Keep surprise on our side." He said, starting to move to the left, with Niles pealing off to the right.

"Good luck man…" Max whispered to Tim as she trotted after James.

If all went well, then they would be able to get to the Tank before it noticed them, it didn't go well.

All was silent as the four stalked towards the giant beast, and for a moment James felt a leap of hope, maybe they would be able to just sneak past. That hope went sailing like the strip of concrete that crashed just inches behind him.

"Shoot!" He yelled, opening fire on the galloping infected. A deafening blast sounded from Tim's and Niles' shotgun on the other side of the street, and the repetitive shots fired from both the submachine guns made all four of their ears ring, if the blood rushing past them wasn't even louder than gunfire. Max was so sure everyone could hear her pulse, that she was surprised Tim didn't make some remark about how loud it was. The Tank ran back and forth, angered and confused about who to attack. It seemed like forever they kept shooting, and Max's tired arms had gone numb from the vibrating weapon in her arms. She only stopped her barrage of bullets once to reload. She stopped shooting when the Tank swayed; seeming to do a dance on it's ridiculously tiny feet. Then it dropped, the road beneath it groaning with its weight. Max let her arms drop, the gun hanging limp in her right hand. She held her left one up to her face, watching as it shook against her will. Without another word, she started off at a dead sprint towards a barricaded building faster than she knew she could. She swung the door open, and ran in, desperate to get safe. Niles, and James were close behind with Tim bringing up the rear. He slammed the door shut and slapped the iron bar down in its place, securing the room.

Max sad down in one of the chairs, buried her face in her hands, and then started crying.


End file.
